FordRacerGT

Hey guys, I know this is a dumb question but i just want to be safe.. I just bought an 02 GT the other day. It has 78k original miles and it runs and drives perfectly... however i notice that after i cut the car off when im done driving it and i pop the hood, its really warm under the engine bay. Everything is hot, the coolant resevoir and the alternator are pretty hot, as well as the hoses. I can feel a lot of warmth around the car. I checked the coolant and its a dirty color like sort of a greyish brown. The temp guage is sitting perfect though and its slightly more towards the c than the h so im not sure if its normal for a GT to be this hot after being run or not. Sometimes i smell like a dirty antifreeze smell for just a second when its just sitting around after being run but its not leaking from anywhere and its full. Any ideas or advice on what could be causing this? It had a tune but i set it back to factory settings i think so it cant be that. Like i said it might just be in my head and be completely normal but i just want to make sure. Thanks

Rokgtar

I would do a complete coolant flush and burp on the system to be sure everything is clean and up to date, Make sure you are getting coolant cycling through the engine and also make sure your electric fan is kicking in properly.

My 97 4 valve runs a bit on the warm side, except on cold days. Stop and go traffic will take it just past the halfway point on the idiot guage. I have a 180 degree t-stat but I think I am going to upgrade to a 3 core radiator this spring if I can swing it so it doesn;t run hot this summer. Hoping that will help.

2000BlkGtConvgobucks

Just like rokgtar said, i would flush your system considering that you used the words grayish brown when describing the color of your coolant. It scares me to think that you may have corrosion or rust within the cooling system. keep in mind that our cars just like any other car will be hot under the hood when running at normal operating temps. You mentioned the hoses being hot, that is 200 degree fluids inside there so it should be hot, if not there is a problem. I have always recommend a slightly lower temp thermostat for all my sports cars, although many people have opposite opinions, just a matter of preference i guess.

2000BlkGtConvgobucks

Just to add to my last post, if you feel that the engine temps are exceptionally high i would recommend getting an aftermarket coolant temp gauge just to be sure. Even the cheap ones can be highly accurate as it is known that our gt stockers are less than perfect. Whatever you do, don't let your engine temps run to high

uberstang1

I agree with above, I would flush the coolant if its looking that grungy, but if the temp is normal than the operating temperature is fine. After running the car the parts under the hood will be hot to touch, escpeically anything with antifreze in it.

FordRacerGT

Alright... I had the fluid flushed at ford today. They flushed the entire system, motor, heater core, etc... Put new fluid in. They said the new fluid got dirty after they put it in but its not that dirty at all. It looks about 90 times better than it did before. Plus they used yellow fluid so that looks a little dirty anyway. However... i think that the resevoir is just dirty... I stuck my finger inside it and looked on the outside. I could wipe away dirt on inside of the resevoir with my finger so i think the reason the new coolant looks a tad dark is because the resevoir tank just needs to be cleaned. The antifreeze has not been changed in a long time by the looks of it so im sure the tank didnt stay too clean. Operating temp is still completely normal and ac blows ice cold so i think its gonna be cool. Im just glad i got the flush... cant believe some people let their fluids get so dirty.

0949er

you would be surprised home many people abuse their car. The heat of the motor is totally normal though. Anything under my hood is too hot to touch after a decent drive.

FordRacerGT

Mustangs are just such nice cars... I cant believe how people can just sit there and let the maintenance pass like its nothing. Speaking of which i might as well change the gear fluid... only has 79k miles so im sure none of the previous owners cnaged that... unless it has gears. I think it might because the speedo is 5 off in the city and about 8-10 off on the freeway. It pulls way harder than my other 02 did with 3.27s so im assuming it has maybe 3.50s or 3.73s. We'll find out...